


Tightrope

by Lokislittlearmy



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alcohol, Inspired by Music, Multi, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Canon, Reconciliation, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 15:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14596194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokislittlearmy/pseuds/Lokislittlearmy
Summary: He pulls his stone of farspeech from his pocket and dials her number. His thumb hovers over the call button. Maybe this is a mistake. It’s just before sunset where she is, but maybe she’s already asleep. That’s ridiculous, he decides. He takes a slow, deep breath. His thumb hits the button before he can think about it any further.He counts five rings. He’s pretty sure voicemails come up at six. The ring stops in the middle of the fifth, though. “Hello?” She sounds so tentative. A malicious part of Taako thinks she should. She should pay for what she did. He pushes it away to deal with it later.“I want to talk to you.”





	Tightrope

**Author's Note:**

> _Hand in my hand_  
>  And you promised to never let go  
> We're walking the tightrope  
> High in the sky  
> We can see the whole world down below  
> We're walking the tightrope  
> Never sure, will you catch me if I should fall?

Taako spends a lot of time thinking about Lucretia these days. He doesn’t want to. He wants to have a normal life now, as normal as he can get. Kravitz is more than he could ever hope for, and Taako knows that if he really, truly wanted to, that he could have Lucretia just the same as he has Kravtiz.

He doesn’t know if he wants that. The very concept frightens him, makes him tense up and shiver. She took so much from him. Even though he has Lup back now, he spent years apart from her in longing that he could never place. He put his entire trust in somebody who couldn’t trust him. Somebody who couldn’t trust the rest of the crew she’d spent a century with.

Still, they had something great. They had everything together, and everything felt right. He never doubted her for a moment despite how easily they could have let the other fall. It felt exhilarating. Those are the memories that kept him tossing at night.

Normalcy feels nice, Taako decides. He has a daily routine. He doesn’t have to worry about saving the world from some vore-obsessed plane. He lives in a house with a vast kitchen and a guest bedroom and a porch lovingly hand-crafted by his best friend. Of course, by “lovingly hand-crafted” he means, “Magnus bitched about the stone steps for two months straight until Kravitz asked if he was trying to hint at something.” He even has a nice, loving boyfriend to keep him warm (as in, freezing) at night. 

In the mornings, the first rays of sunlight shine through the window and land in the kitchen Taako loves so much. He drags himself in with a yawn. His pajama pants brush the wooden floors as he pads to the fridge. He pulls out a carton of eggs and a pack of bacon. A simple cantrip has the pans heating. He starts up the coffee maker and tucks his hair behind his ears. 

By the time Kravitz stumbles out, Taako is prodding at the egg yolk to test if it’ll break when he flips the eggs. Kravitz pours two mugs off coffee and sets them on the table in the center of the room. He wraps his arms around Taako. Taako decides it’s close enough and flips the egg. “You’ll get splattered if you stand so close,” he says with a gesture to the bacon. “This shield only holds so far, bubellah.” 

“’M using you as a shield,” Kravitz mumbles into Taako’s shoulder. Taako can feel the smile on his face. He considers taking the shield down for a second. He puts the bacon onto the plates. Kravitz moves away to start the toast. A few minutes later, they sit at the table together. They’re both at half-cups of coffee when Kravitz sets his fork down. “Taako, can I talk to you?”

Taako bites back a remark about how he already is. He sees the expression on Kravitz’ face and sets his silverware down. “What’s up?” Fuck. This is it, isn’t it? He’s gonna live in this house with the guest bedroom and that porch swing alone now. 

“It’s nothing you need to fret over. At least, you don’t have to fret about my feelings over it.” Kravitz crosses his legs beneath the table. He’s not quite meeting Taako’s eyes, and that makes Taako a little more nervous. “As you know, Fisher aired everything about the century out that Lucretia put in the journals. And she did put in quite a bit about...well, about you two. And I wanted to talk about that.”

It takes a second for Taako to react. He stays perfectly straight-faced. He picks his silverware back up and cuts into the egg yolk. It’s a little more runny than he wanted it. “There’s nothing to talk about. It’s all in the past. Twelve years in the past.” He doesn’t look up at Kravitz, but he feels his eyes. He pauses his movement, but he can’t bring himself to look up. “I love you, Kravitz. You know that, right?”

“Of course. I love you too.” Kravitz still isn’t picking his fork back up. He folds his hands on the table. “And I understand if you still love her. I know that you still love me, and that’s what I care about.”

Taako finally meets his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, but he’s not entirely sure what to say. His shoulders drop. “I don’t know if I still love her. Can I, after what she did? Is that even...I don’t know, allowed?”

Kravitz is biting back a smile at the word choice. He picks his fork back up. “Well, you decide who you’re allowed to love. So I guess only you can answer that.” They go back to eating, but Taako spends the day sidetracked. 

Polyamory is normal by elven standards. Taako wants to say he’s being a baby about all of this. He wants to pretend nothing happened, and that he and Lucretia can regain what they once had. Maybe he wants to never speak to Lucretia again. Somehow, the idea pains him. He knows he needs to talk to her, to sort something out no matter how much it takes to get there. The idea of that makes his stomach turn, but it consumes his mind in every motion he makes.

He finally gives up that night. He slips from the covers as quietly and stealthily as possible, so that he doesn’t wake Kravitz. He steps outside and looks up at the stars above. He can pick out a few constellations. He remembers Lucretia telling him about them when they first arrived. She’d done some scouting, and she came back with stories. Both of them knew they were made up, but the adventures exceeded the ones they’d lived through. They needed that back then.

He pulls his stone of farspeech from his pocket and dials her number. His thumb hovers over the call button. Maybe this is a mistake. It’s just before sunset where she is, but maybe she’s already asleep. That’s ridiculous, he decides. He takes a slow, deep breath. His thumb hits the button before he can think about it any further.

He counts five rings. He’s pretty sure voicemails come up at six. The ring stops in the middle of the fifth, though. “Hello?” She sounds so tentative. A malicious part of Taako thinks she should. She should pay for what she did. He pushes it away to deal with it later.

“I want to talk to you.” No point in beating around the bush. He’s not sure he could find small talk right now. He walks over to the railing beside the stairs. The polish is starting to wear off. He might have to call Magnus soon. 

Silence hangs on the other end of the line. He checks to see if she hung up. “I’m guessing you want to talk about...” She struggles for the words. “About us,” she decides.

“Yeah.” He pauses and starts picking at a particularly thin edge of polish. He’s going to get his ass kicked for that. He grimaces. “We don’t have to talk right now. I’m sure you’re busy with the whole, uh, rebranding thing you’ve got going on.”

“I was just finishing a few things, actually. I have about an hour left.” Another silence passes. “Did you want to meet somewhere?” she asks. There’s the sound of papers shuffling. Taako flicks a piece of varnish off the railing. It leaves a lighter spot in the wood, an imperfection that Taako usually wouldn’t mind. Instead, he gets the sudden urge to rip the rest of the polish off. “I understand if you don’t want to meet in person, of course, but I thought I would ask.”

Taako takes a moment to consider. He runs his thumb over the polish to feel the torn wood. Maybe it’s an excuse to call Magnus, too. Not now, of course. He’s definitely asleep by now. Later, though. “You can come over for dinner tomorrow, at about six?” He realizes how that sounds as soon as he says it. “Kravitz would be there, but of course he would give us whatever privacy we need to talk.” There’s a bit of a silence. “I can cook dinner. I remember that was never your strong suit.” 

A puff of laughter passes her lips. “Yeah, okay. I’ll make sure my schedule is clear. I’ll see you at six, then.”

“See you then, Luce.” He hangs up. He called her Luce. The realization hits him and he groans to himself. Fucking habits. He goes inside and crawls under the covers beside Kravitz, who pulls him in close. “Did I wake you up?” Taako murmurs.

“S’okay.” He’s still half-awake. “Who were you calling?”

“Lucretia is coming over for dinner tomorrow.” Taako wraps his arms around Kravitz’s waist. “If it’s okay,” he tacks on.

Kravitz cracks one eye barely open. He doesn’t say anything, but he gives Taako a look that questions his confidence. After a second, he nods. “Yeah. I’ll leave you two alone and everything.” He pulls him even closer, and he falls asleep. Taako can feel the steady rise and fall and feels the breath on his collarbones. He doesn’t feel tired enough to sleep, but nothing could make him squirm out of Kravitz’ arms. He lies there and lets the thoughts run through his head.

In the morning, he makes breakfast as usual. He decides on omelets, and starts chopping the vegetables as the pan heats and the coffee maker runs. When he comes down, Kravitz is already dressed in his suit with his hair up. He puts the coffee on the table. “I hope you’re not going to fret over tonight.”

Taako narrows his eyes at the omelet. “You...” He looks over his shoulder. “Sweetheart, have you met me? Of course I’m going to fret.” He watches Kravitz laugh.

Kravitz goes to take plates down. “Well, try not to fret more than deserved. Lucretia wouldn’t have accepted your invitation if she didn’t want to talk to you.”

His words don’t settle with Taako. He leaves before finishing his breakfast. Taako takes it upon himself to not waste food. As he washes the dishes, he wonders whether he should bother shopping for the actual ingredients. He could just use a spell slot. He knows he’s going to make a spaghetti with lemon zest and pistachios. He has spaghetti in the cupboard and lemons on the counter. He just needs pistachios. Is that worth a trip to the grocery store?

He decides the walk there will at least help him clear his head. He’s just heading out when his stone of farspeech rings. He doesn’t even check to see who it is. “Justin’s Crematorium. You kill ‘em, we grill ‘em. This is Taako speaking.”

“How much would you charge for an idiot brother?” Lup says from the other end. He can hear her smile. It brings a smile to his own face. He locks the door before he leaves, even though he doesn’t have neighbors for half a mile.

“Sorry, the brother you’re talking about is too hot to be burned.” He grins. “What can I do for ya, sis?”

“Barry and I are watching some dumb movie tonight, and we figured you’d probably like it. So you should come over at about dinnertime.”

Taako hisses through his teeth. “No can do. I have plans tonight. Someone’s coming over for dinner.”

“Oooh.” Lup shifts. He can hear her adjusting for maximum tea spilling. “What are you cooking?” Because of course he wouldn’t trust anyone else to even help.

He hesitates to say, for some reason. He tells her anyway. “Spaghetti with a lemon zest and pistachios.”

There’s a pause on the other end. “So...” Another pause. “You’re-” She’s definitely trying to force the thought out, like she’s uncertain. “-Having Lucretia over?” Her voice tilts impossibly high at the end as if it pains her to express the idea.

Taako sighs. “Yeah. I am.” He adjusts his hat by the brim. It’s way too hot outside to be walking a mile and a half. “I already know it’s stupid, so you don’t have to tell me that.” He knows Lup is going to wait until he’s finished, so he can take a second to clear his thoughts up. “I need to know. She didn’t even break up with me, I just forgot she existed. I forgot everything for twelve years. I forgot her, I forgot you, I forgot everybody I knew. And I should be so pissed off about that. I was for a while, but now I just...can’t. I can’t figure out my feelings for her, you know?”

“I get it.” Lup’s moving around now. “Let me know how everything turns out, okay?”

“Will do. And I can come see a shitty movie with you tomorrow night.”

He can hear the grin in her voice when she says, “Fuck yes. You can spill the details then. See ya.”

“See ya.” He hangs up and shoves the stone back in his pocket. He picks up his pace to get to the grocery store. Pistachios are so expensive. They’re nuts just like cashews and peanuts, but they’re twice as expensive. He groans loudly enough to attract the attention of a worker down the aisle but gets them anyway. He picks up a nice bottle of wine, too, even though she’ll probably bring one. Better safe than sorry. It’s got some fancy name, so maybe Lucretia will be at least a little impressed by it.

He gets back and immediately starts cleaning. The house is already clean, but he needs it to be cleaner. He pulls out the tablecloth that Barry gave them as a housewarming gift and sets the table. He sweeps for the first time in forever and wipes down the countertops and conjures up some flowers and everything else he can do. He even mops down the bathroom floor and puts an air freshener in there. The entire house looks like something out of a catalog by the time he’s finished, even the rooms Lucretia won’t see. It certainly sets his mind at ease.

He dresses in a purple skirt and white top. He throws his hair into a ponytail and accessorizes. Lucretia’s definitely seen him in worse states, and it doesn’t get much better than this.

He sets to making the dinner about forty-five minutes before six. He tried taking a walk and cleaning, but he knew this would do the trick. He’s finally able to focus. He should have made lunch instead of snacking.

Kravitz comes in at five thirty. Taako can hear his “what the fuck?” from the next room over. He comes into the kitchen and wraps his arms around Taako. “I told you not to fret,” he murmurs into Taako’s ear.

“And I told you I would.” Taako shrugs. He keeps his eyes on the lemon peel he’s turning into zest. He’s determined not to cut himself on this fucking thing like he does every time. It would probably help not to grate so fast. “It’s okay. We needed to clean up anyway. Why not do it for a guest?”

“I guess,” Kravitz amends. He doesn’t sound entirely convinced. “I’ll stay out of the way so you two can talk.” He unravels himself from Taako. They share a quick kiss before Kravitz leaves completely. It takes just a few seconds before Taako hears him yell, “Even the bedroom?”

After that, it’s smooth sailing. Taako knows he won’t be finished before Lucretia arrives. He’s just adding the lemon in when she knocks on the door. He takes the pot off of the heat and uses a spell to keep it suspended. He’s not burning this. No way. He opens the door. Lucretia is dressed in a long red dress that flows out when she moves her arms. It’s accented along her collarbone. It does look good on her, no matter how much that thought makes Taako’s stomach twist.

He waves her in. He can see that she’s holding a bottle of wine now. It’s the exact same bottle Taako got earlier today that’s now sitting on the dining room table. She looks around the living room as Taako closes the door. He doesn’t bother locking it, as usual. “Your house looks beautiful,” she says without meeting his eye. 

She wasn’t invited to the housewarming party, so this is the first time she’s seen it. “Thanks,” Taako replies. He shuffles a little closer to the kitchen. He should keep cooking that pasta. Lucretia gets the hint and follows him. She stands at the edge of the kitchen. He takes the pot back and puts on heat again. “You can sit down if you want.”

He hears her shuffling around, toward the stools on the island. The bottle clinks on the cold marble. It’s silent aside from the fire beneath the pot and the spoon hitting the side. Taako wants to say something. He had a lot to say. But now that the moment’s arrived, his mind is blank. He wants to let Lucretia talk first. 

She’s definitely not going to. He knows that particular brand of silence is her staring at the counter, endlessly arguing with her anxiety. He knows it’s better to leave that alone. So he finishes the pasta with the knowledge that Kravitz is laying upstairs resisting the urge to yell at them to _just talk already!_

Surprise, surprise, they don’t. Taako scoops the pasta into a serving bowl and garnishes it with the pistachio dust and leftover lemon zest. He carries it to the table, where Lucretia follows. He gestures for her to sit where Kravitz usually would. The table expands to fit more people, but he doesn’t see a point in expanding it just so that she’s not sitting where Kravitz does. It’s not logical. So even if her sitting there makes his stomach twist and turn in a way he hates, he’ll get over it. He serves her first. She left the bottle on the island as soon as she saw the bottle on the table. 

Good on her. The first couple of bites are still in silence. “This is an excellent dish,” she says. 

“Nothing special.” He’s spent full days on dishes before, after all. He glances up. “I don’t know how you support your pistachio habit. They’re so expensive.”

“It takes a lot of budgeting,” she jokes. After that, they fall into another uncomfortable silence. 

Silence has never felt so suffocating. Taako takes a deep breath just to hear the sound. Lucretia is definitely not going to talk first. Small talk, Taako. Figure it out. “So, how have you been?”

“As well as I can be,” Lucretia replies. “Rebranding is going well. We don’t have to change the logo, which certainly helps. How have you been?”

“Busy, which is nice. Ren is taking care of a lot of things so that I can stay on the media circuit, but it’s certainly nice to have a home.” Taako smiles. “I forgot how nice it was, you know?” As soon as the words come out, they both freeze. Taako looks up to her with wide eyes, and he can see the guilt filling her face. “Shit. I didn’t mean-”

“No, no.” Lucretia puts her fork down. “Let’s stop beating around the bush, Taako.” She folds her hands in front of her, pushing the plate out. “You invited me here to talk, so we should talk.” Even if neither of them really want to. “So, what do you want to know?”

Taako takes a second to think. For some reason, he didn’t think he would get this far. His mind is swirling with thoughts, and he struggles with where to start. He sets his forearms on the table. “I think I just want to know why,” he says. “I mean, I get why you did it, but you really couldn’t trust any of us?”

“It wasn’t that I couldn’t trust you.” She shifts in her seat. “I didn’t trust the people out there. You saw how they were using the relics against each other. We’d lost Lup, and I thought that if we could just get rid of all of that, then we’d go back to a normal life.” She sighs. “It’s no excuse.”

Taako takes a sip of his wine and leans back in his chair. “We hadn’t lost Lup. She was missing, not dead.” He pauses. That was a lie. He remembers the skeleton with the robe clearer than ever these days. He takes another sip. “At least, as far as any of us knew.”

“Last time I thought my crewmates were missing, they’d all been turned into stone.” Lucretia swirls her glass idly, watching the way the wine curls off of the sides.

His eyes dart to her and before he realizes it, he’s fixing her with the coldest glare he’s ever given anybody. She doesn’t seem as guilty anymore, and that little malicious part of Taako rears its head. “I’d think that you would show a bit more concern if you thought she was dead.”

“She was dead, Taako.”

“We didn’t know that!” He should keep his voice down. “We didn’t know if she was dead or alive or somewhere in between, and we never got the chance to find out. Hell, the only reason we found her was because she stopped at nothing to tell me she was trapped! We could have found her decades earlier if you had just trusted us enough to tell us what was going on.”

Lucretia scoffs, and they’re glaring at each other now. “As if you would listen. Lup and Barry’s plan didn’t work, so I tried mine.”

“You ruined our lives.”

“I rebuilt your lives.”

“Oh, I’m sure Davenport is fucking thrilled about his twelve years in paradise, huh?”

She slams her glass on the table. “You were on Lup’s side before I even said a word. After all those years of being together, you wouldn’t even listen to a word I said. I never asked you to choose between me and your family, but you couldn’t even hear me out?”

Taako straightens up in his chair like he’s about to get up. “I did listen to you, and I decided that her plan still sounded better. Everybody else said the same. That’s not all on me, and you know it.”

Lucretia scoots to the edge of her chair. “I expected more from you, Taako. I expected to at least feel heard.”

“How can I listen when you didn’t even tell me you were breaking up with me?” The words come out before he can stop them. He definitely meant to bring that up when they were calmer, but it’s too late now. He stands from his chair, Lucretia doing the same. “Even if you didn’t want me to know about your fucking _terrible_ idea, you left me wondering for weeks why you were shutting yourself away in your room. You never said a fucking word to me!”

“Are you seriously telling me you’d rather me break up with you beforehand? You think that would have made things easier for either of us?” She puts her hands on the table and leans toward him. “Tell me, would it have been easier if Lup told you she was leaving you?”

A strike of pain hits Taako’s heart. He can feel the shake in his hands as his vision blurs at the edges. He curls his hands into fists to ease the shake. “Get the fuck out of my house,” he says through gritted teeth. “Now.”

She doesn’t hesitate. When the door slams, it shakes the frame of the house. Lucretia’s heels click down the wooden steps. She remembers when Magnus was picking up supplies to craft the porch, the swing that’s swinging in the light breeze. He invited her along. She declined as soon as she knew who it was for.

She doesn’t want to go back to the base yet. She needs to cry and patch herself up first. Secret or no secret, she has a reputation to maintain. So she heads down the road until she’s far enough away that Taako can’t hear or see her. She settles down in an overgrown meadow that drops into a sharp cliff. The sun is setting. She can see it over the lake that extends to the horizon. He really did pick the perfect place to live.

Tears spill down her face. She knew she shouldn’t have said that the moment the words left her mouth. She’s the one that led Taako down that path. She’s the one that promised she would never let go. She thought she was doing good by setting him up in that fucking stagecoach, and look at where it landed him. Wandering on the run until she found him again, until she found him all.

Lucretia lays back in the tall grass to look at the streaks of orange. She can almost imagine the Starblaster drifting above like it did years ago. She remembers leaning over the railing and staring at the beautiful landscapes below. It felt so much like home and yet so different. She remembers Taako’s arms wrapping around her and standing in silence. Maybe they sailed over this exact meadow. Would Taako recognize it? 

Her stone is ringing from her purse. It’s Magnus. She wipes her tears and presses call. “Hello?” Her voice cracks, and she winces.

“How’d it go? Everything patched up? Please tell me you guys at least solved some things.”

That’s all it takes for Lucretia to choke on a sob and start crying. Fuck it, it’s Magnus. He’s seen her in worse states. 

“Jeez, that bad?”

Lucretia sniffles. “It’s my fault. I said something I shouldn’t have about Lup’s disappearance.”

“Aw, Luce. Come on, it’s okay. Besides, you can’t tell me Taako was perfectly calm either.”

“He’s got a right to be upset.” She sits up. The orange streaks are starting to fade. “You all have a right to be upset.”

Magnus sighs. “We’ve talked about this. Yeah, you made some mistakes, but look at where we are. You saved the world.”

“It wasn’t me. I’m not taking credit for that.”

“You heard that not-God guy. He called you the greatest wizard in the system. You’re not going to take at least partial credit?” Magnus sounds incredulous, voice pitching. Lucretia doesn’t respond. Jeffandrew and the minutes in that train car feel like a dream she can’t shake. She would have shrugged it off as such if nobody had said anything. Magnus shifts on the other end of the line. “Taako’s the last one you have to make amends with.”

“I know. I don’t think I can.” Lucretia pauses. Her free hand picks at strands of grass beside her. She scowls out at the sky. “Wait a second. How did you know I was at Taako’s house?”

“I was talking to Lup earlier. Apparently she invited him over for a movie night, but he’d already made plans with you.” He lets silence pass. “This is important to him, too. You guys have a lot of open wounds, and I get that. I think if you can patch those up even temporarily, it’ll be great for you both.”

Lucretia frowns. Her hand stills in the grass. “You’re telling me to go back.”

“Yeah. If you can.”

She sighs. “Okay. I will in a few minutes.”

“Good. Call me when you leave, okay? If everything is still bad, then I’ll fly out to the base and you can vent. I’ll bring snacks, we can binge eat. It’ll be great.”

His words get a little laugh out of Lucretia. “I’ll call you. Thank you, Magnus.”

“I’ll talk to you after.” He hangs up first. Lucretia slips the stone back into her purse and flops back against the hard ground. The last thing in the world she wants to do is go back. She doesn’t deserve Taako’s forgiveness. She doesn’t deserve anybody’s, for that matter, and it’s a wonder they’re not all treating her like Taako is. She’s grateful for it, but she can’t help but feel it’s going to fall from beneath her one day. They’ll all let go at once, and she’ll fall. 

She goes anyway. She stands up and brushes the back of her dress. The sun is nearly set now. She walks back to Taako’s house in darkness, stomach flipping with each step.

When she gets back, Taako and Kravitz are sitting on the porch swing. Taako has his head on Kravitz’ shoulder and one of the wine bottles in his hand. There’s no glass around either of them. Kravitz has an arm around Taako. He sees Lucretia standing at the gate and leans his head down to mumble into Taako’s ear. Taako’s eyes flutter open and meet Lucretia’s. He sits up straight. Kravitz unravels himself. He says one more thing to Taako and kisses him before disappearing into the house.

Lucretia takes that as her cue to join Taako. She clicks the gate shut behind her. Somewhere, a cricket is chirping. Her heels click up the steps. Taako reluctantly pats the empty space beside him. She’s careful not to touch him when she sits. He offers her the bottle of wine. She takes a swig and hands it back. 

The silence doesn’t feel quite as suffocating this time around. Taako speaks first. “Listen. We both fucked up. I should have at least considered your plan more. And I admit that. I’m sorry.” He takes another drink. “I just don’t understand why you didn’t tell me anything.”

She lets out a deep breath. “You were so sad, Taako. All of you. Lup had just disappeared, our relics were destroying the world, there was no end to it all. I couldn’t add to your sorrow by hurting you like that.” 

Taako looks down at the wine bottle and hands it to Lucretia. She takes a generous drink. She goes to hand it back to him, but he shakes his head. He’s not looking at her, just at a space off in the distance. She can’t see anything out there, but maybe he can. She looks out anyway. “I thought it was the only choice I had. And I hurt all of you. I’m so, so sorry for that, Taako. I wish I could have seen how wrong I was.”

Both of them let a long silence pass. The cricket is joined with a chorus. Stars twinkle above them, and Lucretia remembers telling the story of one of the constellations. They’ve passed over this patch before. Several times, in fact. Enough times that Taako would recognize it when he came out here. “I’m not mad at you,” he says. “I mean, I’m not very happy about what you said about Lup, but neither of us were very chill back there.”

“You should be mad at me.”

“I know.” He shrugs. “I’ve been thinking about how mad I should be a lot lately, but I’m just not. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you’re the savior everyone else seems to think you are. I just can’t find a reason to be angry now.”

“Taako, if I hadn’t-”

“How’s Angus doing?” Taako looks over at her. She doesn’t respond, just looks at him confusedly, so he explains. “I’m not sitting on my porch listening to your special brand of self-deprecation, Lucretia. That wasn’t in my job description at the Bureau, and it’s not in my description now.”

Lucretia lets out a tiny laugh of disbelief. She shakes her head and looks back out at the road. “He’s great. All over the place, but it’s for the best that he has a permanent home on the base.” She pauses, glancing at Taako and adjusting her grip on the bottle. “He asks about you a lot.”

“Yeah?” He shifts in his seat. “Nice to hear.”

They spend a while catching up on everything that’s happened since they parted ways. It takes some effort, dancing around sensitive subjects, but it’s worth sparing. Neither of them drink any more wine. It would take a lot more to get Lucretia even tipsy, but she doesn’t want to be drunk right now. She wants to savor the moment, even if her heart is bracing for a fall.

Taako tells her to “get home safely, Luce” when she heads out. She calls for transport. She’s dialing Magnus as she rises up, and a grin is spreading across her face.

“Should I get the comfort foods ready? What’s the status?”

“You should come over if you already have your schedule cleared. But I think it went well.” Lucretia leans back in her chair. She watches Taako’s house fade from view as she rises through the clouds. The stars look even more magnificent from up here. She sinks into the cushion and stares up at the galaxy she once passed through.

“That’s good to hear. I’ll get dressed and be right over.” As if she lives right down the street. Lucretia ends the call with a smile. She doesn’t hurry back to her quarters. She passes the Starblaster, still sitting in the courtyard, and traces her fingers along the hull as she goes. She takes her time looking up at the stars and remembering the stories of the constellations. 

She wanted her friends back. And now she has them. It’s different and shaky, but it’s not lost. Finally, she feels like she can breathe once more.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't even ship them, but then I realized Tightrope was a really good song for them and kinda fell in love.
> 
> Special thanks to bluemoonhound for being my beta reader and also getting me into this ship!
> 
> Questions? Comments? Requests? Find me at littlelionkai.tumblr.com <3


End file.
